Over 150K sign up for health plans in Missouri

A new report says more than 150,000 Missouri residents signed up for health insurance policies through a federally run website.

The figures released Thursday by President Barack Obama's administration show Missouri exceeded the number of participants that had been projected by more 25 percent.

The final number who signed up by the spring deadline was 152,335.

Health care advocates who promoted the federal website said the enrollment figures show people want affordable health insurance. But they noted that many are still uninsured.

Missouri has about 800,000 people without health insurance.

The state could have run its own health insurance exchange, but lawmakers decided to let the federal government do it. Missouri's Republican-led Legislature has tried to avoid any participation in Obama's health care law.